Creekside Church Sermon of October 31, 1999 "Heaven" Revelation 7:9-17	Rev. David Bibbee
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The wise approach to speaking intelligently about heaven is a humble one. I could suggest that we just let the mystery be, and affirm St. Paul's declaration in I Corinthians II, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor human heart conceived, God has prepared for those who love him." We could simply trust what Paul said and leave it at that. I cannot claim to have the insight of the little girl who sat next to her mother in church coloring a picture. "Who is that you're drawing?" the mother asked. "God," her daughter replied. "But honey," Mom said, "no one knows what God looks like," to which the little girl said, "They will after I'm finished with it!"

I hope my attempt to describe the indescribable will be of help, and I hope at least that my words will put heaven in perspective so we won't over emphasize it or dismiss it altogether. We must always remember that any description we venture about heaven will be fraught with limitation. I am not interested in heaven's geography. Whether the streets are paved gold or the gates are pearly, or whether we all will take harp lessons is trivial. "Behold, I tell you a mystery," Paul said. Language cannot describe mystery. Even so this doesn't keep us from trying. We do what we can't do, like Francis Thompson wrote in his poem called, "The Kingdom of God":

O world invisible we view thee-o world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee-inapprehensible, we clutch thee.

To begin, we need to know that compared to the Bible as a whole there isn't a great deal said about heaven. It's also important to know that neither the Bible in general nor Jesus in particular tried to convince anyone about the existance of heaven. There was no attempt to prove it. For Jesus, heaven was assumed. The central message of Revelation is that there is no question, present appearances to the contrary, that God will ultimately have his way with the world. In heaven, God's will is totally obeyed. No matter how we conceive it, we believe that heaven is where God is. The Bible looks forward to a time when a multitude beyond numbering will proclaim that all glory and wisdom and honor and power and might will belong to God alone, forever.

"I go to prepare a place for you," Jesus said. We are to anticipate a time when we are one with God in Jesus. There will come a moment when God will wipe away our tears, calm our fears, heal our hurts, and satisfy the longings and aspirations left incomplete in this life. What we have believed on earth in faith, will be embraced in heaven as fact.

It is emotionally wrenching to be with someone at the moment of death. But when it is a person of faith; when there is no dread about death, when surrounded by family and faith-filled friends who remain with the dying till they cross the threshold and are greeted by the communion of saints, it is an occasion for thanksgiving. As Sarah Pletcher lived her last days she was surrounded. There was deep sadness in her room, but no despair, it was filled with love and thank-yous. Heaven was assumed and expressed in a chorus of hymns, and a hymn during which she breathed her last couldn't have been more fitting..."Soon and very soon we are going to see the king. No more crying there, no more dying there, we're going to see the king."

Heaven is our hope which sustains us on our sometimes troubled trek through life. It is a gift, but it is not a goal. The primary motivation for giving over our lives to Jesus is not so we will go to heaven. Did you love your parents because you were afraid of what might happen if you didn't? Did you do things for them because you loved them, or because of what you would get in return? Of course not. But evangelists sometimes dangle heaven before people like a carrot to entice a decision. "Give your life over to God and here's what you will get." "Do right by God and God will do right by you!" The promise of heaven can become an appeal to human selfishness.

Let me suggest that Jesus gives us a way to embrace Heaven as our ultimate hope, without being anxious over outcomes or selfish over rewards. Let's look at the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9. In the middle of the prayer is a verse on which the entire prayer pivots..."thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This verse separates what comes before and after. First is the certainty that where God is, heaven is. In heaven God's name is honored and God is perfectly obeyed. But what goes on in heaven should also happen on earth. When we hallow God's name and work for God's kingdom, then little by little the reality of heaven will begin to take place on earth. A heart for God will result in a heart for people. We will give and receive bread and forgiveness. We will shun what is evil.

The Lord's Prayer is concerned with heaven and earth. Throughout the Bible these two realms are linked. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." "Heaven and earth are full of your glory." Each is distinct, and yet to the extent that we are obedient to God's will on earth, the earth, the light of heaven can shine through us. Someone said, "Some people are so other worldly minded that they are no earthly good." "Lead us not into temptation," we pray because we can over focus on the otherworldly. This is why God gave us the Incarnation. Jesus keeps us oriented toward heaven, and yet down to earth. In Acts chapter 1 Jesus ascended into heaven. Then an angel said to his disciples, "Why are you gazing up into heaven? You have work waiting for you here." We are responsible for here. God is responsible for hereafter.

We pray for and work for God's will on earth as it is in heaven. If you want a peek at heaven, pray the Lord's prayer. Look as well at the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3. Pay attention to the first and last beatitude. "Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." These two form brackets around the rest. Together they give a description of what heaven is like. Those who are poor in spirit-who know their need, those who hunger for righteousness, those who are merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers will come to know the fulfillment of their desires in heaven, but they also will radiate the light of heaven through the example of their lives.

I heard someone describe being on the deck of a cruise ship at night in the middle of the Atlantic. He was looking for the lights of other ships on the horizon. The ship's steward told him the way to see other vessels was not to look at the horizon, but just above it. This instruction applies to heaven as well. Sometimes we get glimpses of heaven in an exhilarating moment of worship when we sense the presence of the God of Glory and the Lord of Love, receive an unexpected kindness in a period of deep distress stopped in your tracks by beholding a beautiful facet of God's creation, get a glimpse of heaven when a broken relationship is restored and have been reconciled. We sense a breeze of heaven when we quit trying to run the world and controlling our destinies, and instead humble ourselves and do what God has sought all along for everyone...love us and change us.

Heaven isn't the goal we live for. It is the gift given those who seek His will on earth and in heaven. It is not a reward for an achievement. The paradox of heaven is this...we get to heaven by stop trying to get to heaven. It is being so caught up in the work of heaven that we don't consciously think of pursuing it. Those who are preoccupied with it, or think they know who is in and who is out, or think they have it coming to them, are condemned. The parable of the final judgment in Matthew shows us that those who were unconsciously obedient to God, who simply went about life doing what was right without thought of reward, will be the ones God welcomes into the kingdom of heaven.

We wonder what's beyond death. We wonder whether we will be reunited with those we loved and who loved us. That is our hope. In the absence of details however, let's trust the promise of scripture that nothing can separate us from Christ's love, not even death.

In August 1996, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the Archbishop of Chicago, learned that his cancer had returned. He committed the last two months of his life to writing a book reflecting upon his relationship to God and others over the previous three years. You may remember that he was falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and when he was cleared of any wrong doing, he visited his accuser and reconciled to him, which then led to the young man's reconciliation with God. Bernardin felt that the greatest gift he had received during his last months was God's gift of peace, which became the title of his book.

In the conclusion he said he was often asked to tell about heaven and the afterlife. He sometimes smiled and said he knew no more than they. But when someone asked if he looked forward to being with God and all those who went before, he made an immediate connection. Years earlier he had traveled with his mother to his parents homeland in Northern Italy. When he arrived it felt as though he had been there before. He recognized mountains and buildings. He had looked through his mother's photo albums so many times he immediately recognized the sites. He said to himself, "I know this place. I am home." He said he believes that crossing from this life to the next will be like going home.

Daily committing ourselves to Jesus. Daily living the life he taught us. Denying self...loving, serving and forgiving others. Doing things on earth as they are in heaven. These things make up a living album which, when we cross over, will help us recognize the glorious things God has prepared for those who love him. Then, at last, we will know that we are finally home.

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